Gemini Online
Note: The Tabloro site seems to be down at least temporarily Gemini (2 player version) can now be played online with Tabloro, a browser based table top simulator. There is no download or even registration required to play. Once you are familiar with the Gemini Rules, this page walks you through using tabloro and you can simply open your browser to http://www.tabloro.com/tables/skitz to play when your ready. Obviously, there needs to be 2 people to play so make sure to have someone join you. It is suggested by tabloro to use chrome or firefox as the browser. It has only been tested so far with firefox. Mobile is NOT recommended because the browser wont allow zoom to a good table position to play (tablets were not tested yet). Tabloro Tabloro is a table top simulator that is free with no registration to play (creating games takes registration). There are some known glitches and everything has to be done by hand (like a real life table top). This guide walks you through how to use tabloro in the easiest manner. The first thing you do upon entering the table is to close out the menu tab with the X at the upper right. Once another guest arrives, there is a icon in the upper left to start a video chat. The icon button is glitched and interferes with the entire top of the browser. If you accidentally click the guest icon (the entire width of the browser will click on it) it will expand and cannot be collapsed. The good news is that you can drag the icon out of the table area and it wont interfere with the game. You can enlarge the table by pressing control (+/- keys) or control (mouse wheel). Or you can just move the table with the arrow keys to get the guest icon off the card area. If you zoomed out, you can just click the % icon in the firefox browser to resume 100%. Gaming pieces The gaming pieces (other than cards) are set up for ease of play and circumventing glitches. For instance, the 'trump tally' keeps track of what was called. It can allow passing or calling without using the built in chat feature of tabloro. Cheat Sheets If a newer player wants reminded of what can be called or order of trump, they can move to table with the right arrow key to see the cheat sheets. Using the left arrow key gets back to the play area of the table. Trump Tally From the initial set up (left) the 1st seat player passes by moving the 'tally token' to either pass position. The dealer will pass by turning the turn up card down. If the 1st seat wants to pass again, the 'tally token' can be moved to the other pass position (indicating pass). If both parties pass twice, the 'tally token' is moved to the initial position, score is given appropriately, and the cards are re-shuffled (see the 'Ending the Hand' section below for more details). Normal calls are made by moving the 'trump tally' to the appropriate suit and serves as a reminder what trump is throughout the hand. The calls 'clubs' and 'no trump' are shown as an example: Play Area The play area is designed to allow both players to see what was lead and what followed with no confusion. Note, if a card is played by your hand it will be face down automatically and will need flipped using the flip icon. The 'play area' also allows you to gather cards easily by dragging from the lower left 'play area' to the upper right 'play area', highlighting both cards. Once both cards are highlighted, there is a shortcut by using the shuffle (dice) icon. This flips the cards face down and stacks them to be moved at the same time to the 'trick tally' area. Battalion Area The battalion area shows clearly the battalions with no confusion and gets around a glitch. The first card (face down) is always on the bottom and the second (face up) is always above it. The glitch is that the guest browser who dealt will show normal but the other guest browser will show opposite. Giving the two cards different elevation allows just a click on the face up card to make it sit on top. Dead Deck Area The 'dead deck' area is reserved for the kitty and any canceled tricks as well as any turned-down card. It has a space above for the turn up card and is the best place to put the deck for dealing (see Dealing below). Having the turn-up card above the 'dead deck' allows the turn-up card to be turned-down easily without accidentally flipping any other 'dead' cards. Dealing The easiest way to deal the cards is to start the pack out on the Dead Deck area and to deal out the Battalions first, then deal your cards beside the Dead Deck area and your opponents within the Play Area. You and your opponent can then start to take your cards up into your hand by clicking on them and clicking the hand icon. Playing While playing, tricks can be tallied up (see play area above) in the 'trick tally' area. Tricks that give score (or extra score) are noted with a + sign. The cards can be either under or on top of the trick number. Below (right) shows enough tricks to get 1 point for the caller (or 2 points for the euchre) but not enough to get extra points from the 8th trick. Scoring The 'score tally' area has a score bar and a tally token. After the initial position, score is kept until 'in the barn' (nine points, one point to win). Ending the Hand Once the hand has been played and score given, end the hand by resetting the 'trump tally', gathering the cards, and shuffling them. The easiest way to gather the cards is to start in the upper left of the play area and dragging across the board (keeping the 'tally tokens' out of the drag field). Once all the cards are highlighted, there will be a single icon set that can be used to shuffle them (the dice icon) and it always appears on the largest pile (the 'dead deck' in this case). All cards are snuffled and pulled to the 'dead deck' area, ready to be dealt again. Known Glitches and Fixes Some of the known glitches are cards disappearing from one browser and not the other, cards flipping in your hand the first time the other person flips a card in a hand, and cards going back to their original position after moving them. To fix the cards disappearing, you have to communicate which cards disappeared and the other person has to move the cards slightly and they will re-appear. To fix the cards going back to their original position, just move them again. To fix cards flipping in your hand, put them on the table and pick them back up again. Alternatively, if ALL cards were flipped you can highlight ALL cards in your hand and flip them in your hand. Best Glitch Fixes Other than the above, the best way to use tabloro is patience. Radical glitches can happen when multiple people are trying to affect the tabletop. The best thing to do is wait for your turn (bypassing lag glitches) and deselecting cards by clicking on the table when your done. Allow the other player to do all their interaction, then do yours.